Operation Ironside: Murder plot accused Peter John McMillan allegedly ‘sourced and inspected’ gun

Encrypted AN0M messages indicate a man charged over a kill plot foiled by police allegedly sourced and inspected the intended murder weapon, a court has heard.

A man who allegedly planned to source and inspect a gun to be used in a foiled Operation Ironside murder plot is seeking release on home detention bail.

Peter John McMillan, 27, of Rosewater appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday charged with conspiracy to murder and participating in a criminal organisation.

A prosecutor told the court that police observed Mr McMillan meeting with another of the six co-accused, whose identity is suppressed, a day before the plot was alleged to take place at Rosslyn Park in May this year.

“The contents of a duffel bag was shown to (the other accused) by Mr McMillan,” the prosecutor said.

“That being significant in that at that time, equipment including overalls, accelerant and what not were being prepared in connection with the first attempt.

“It’s a critical observation between the two critical people at a critical point in time.”

The court heard police allegedly foiled two attempts within days to carry out the plan.

The prosecutor said Mr McMillan allegedly used the encrypted AN0M platform – which was secretly be monitored by law enforcement – under the username “Inferno”, and that messages between him and another accused “gives the allegations in detail”.

One of those messages, the court heard, referred to the sourcing and inspecting of a Glock gun.

It heard the AN0M phone allegedly used by Mr McMillan was found at his workplace, and that he has “directly referred to addresses that he is associated with” in self-identifying messages.

David Edwardson QC, said there was not enough evidence “that could possibly make out either of these two charges”.

“The reality is there is no case to answer as we speak,” he said.

He said an affidavit provided to the court by investigating officers contained “a whole lot of assertions”, but no “evidentiary foundation for many of the assertions”.

He said police were instead “hoping to find a connection” between the AN0M phone found at Mr McMillan’s workplace and Mr McMillan.

Mr Edwardson said the affidavit referred to a conversation on the AN0M platform on May 16 – a week before the first alleged plan to kill – which referred to the “sourcing of a Glock firearm and a shooting of an unidentified person”.

“He’s alleged to have said: ‘Has the Glock been dropped off to my brother today? I’m going to check it to make sure it’s all good’.”

Mr Edwardson the message could not possibly be from his client because he only had one brother, who was younger and lived interstate.

“He couldn’t possibly have sourced the Glock gun on that day and inspected it that day,” he said.

“That is a prime example of a very good reason why he could not, and is not, the person to whom this particular passage – a crucial passage – is attributed to him.”

He said there was no physical evidence lining his client to the alleged crime and that prosecutors at best “had some optimistic hope, that somehow down the track, some of the things they are looking at may in fact prove to be worthy of substantiating what they now suspect”.

He said Mr McMillan’s family could offer the court a $20,000 cash surety to secure release on bail, to live with his ill father.

Magistrate Michelle Sutcliffe ordered a home detention bail report and asked prosecutors to provide more information ahead of another hearing, next week.